MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Cigarette smoke causes genetic damage within minutes -- not years -- after inhalation into the lungs, U.S. researchers say.
Stephen S. Hecht of the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota and colleagues say evidence indicates harmful substances in tobacco smoke -- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons -- play a role in causing lung cancer but the study is the first to detail how PAHs in cigarette smoke cause DNA damage.